Vassett Wright looks out from the living room of her house which was crushed by a landslide in Bath, St. Thomas, yesterday. - photos by Norman Grindley /Deputy Chief Photographer
A family of six from Bath, St. Thomas, was left homeless yesterday when a massive landslide destroyed the three-bedroom house in which they lived.
A 14-year-old girl, who was visiting the home at the time of the incident, which occurred at approximately 8:00 a.m., was treated at hospital and released. She had been pushed from the verandah by the sheer force of the mud and trees from the hillside behind the house.
The teenager, Georgina Strachan, who is a student of St. Thomas Technical High, was on her way to school and had stopped at the house to visit her relatives. She was also hit in the chest by a piece of board which had pried loose from the verandah. Her mother, Rita Wade, told The Gleaner that the large piece of board which hit her, daughter flew off the house, which literally crumbled under the massive weight of the landslide, which destroyed all but one room of the house.
"I lost everything," Vassette stated, while staring vacantly at the crumbled heap that was once her home. "Beds, dressers, whatnot, fridge, settee," she continued, as she peered into the ruins.
Housed temporarily
She explained that her children, whose ages ranged from six to 14, were being housed temporarily with a friend. She added that her 78-year-old father was staying with a relative.
Vassette told The Gleaner that this was not the first time a land slippage had affected the house.
"The same thing happened about 12 years ago, and we moved the house to this side, and it happen again. So I don't know what we are going to do," she stated.
She said the rains which started last week had saturated the soil and a large palm tree which towered above the house broke loose and fell on the building, taking a huge pile of dirt with it.
The rains, which have been affecting other parts of the island, prevented several persons in St. Thomas from leaving the parish yesterday morning as the main road was rendered impassable in several sections. At least one resident of Lyssons in the parish, an 80-year-old woman, had to be rescued from her house early yesterday morning by firefighters after she became marooned when flood waters surrounded her house.
Left: A section of the Yallahs ford in St. Thomas was once again washed away by heavy flood waters, yesterday. Work to construct a new bridge has been temporarily suspended due to the inclement weather.
Right: This section of the Leith Hall main road in St. Thomas was washed away following heavy rains which have been affecting the island.
